Hello All,
Bob wrote:
 I read the first  article detailing Farrar's work in the November 1965
*Gleanings of Bee  Culture* pg. 679.

Farrar's method is different than any two queen system I have seen. The main
differences is that Farrar moved the bees up and down through the
five(sometimes six brood chambers with drilled auger holes. He also reversed
all brood chambers every 7 days. I believe using the 6 5/8 boxes this might
work but with Langstroth deeps I found you would be splitting the brood nest
more than I thought necessary.  I could never find out exactly how Farrar
reversed. A noted researcher at the time said it didn't mater just reverse.
The last major difference between the Farrar two queen and others was not
putting supers in between the upper and lower brood chambers. This Farrar
concept I found worked OK.  Farrar also said to go back to single queen
status after all honey supers were off. I discontinued going back to single
queen after the supers were off after the first year and went to the
standard method.  I never understood why you would want two queens laying
eggs so late in the season.  Using the Farrar method hives could starve
because of wintering so many bees and not being able to supplement feed due
to bad weather conditions in the north..
The Madole two queen system first wrote about in 1967 and in a ABJ article
in 1985 works well in northern areas. Madole had used the system himself for
twenty years before writing the article. Madole and I were friends and
discussed his methods on many occasions. We were members of the same bee
club.
Another system I have tried with success is by John Hogg. Johns article
shows a picture of two queens fighting over a queen excluder. I believe John
went on to invent the Hogg cassette for comb honey. His system of two queen
is in ABJ January of 1981. The instructions in the article are very precise
and tells exact number of days to do each operation.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
"The queen bee never stings unless she has such a advantage in the combat
that she can curve her body under that of her rival in such a manner as to
inflict a deadly wound without risk of being stung herself"
L.L.Langstroth(1853)